Saturday, Feb. 21, 2004

"The Sisters Rosensweig" takes place on a weekend in
late August 1991 as the Soviet Union is toppling, AIDS is devastating
the gay community and, the breach between rich and poor in America
is becoming greater every day. But as the Rosensweigs gather
in the elegant London home of Sara (Rosensweig) Goode to celebrate
her 54th birthday, their concerns are much more personal: growing
old, finding love and keeping one’s identity - in this case Jewish
and Brooklyn. Comment

Composer Sergei
Prokofiev’s "Peter and the Wolf" has been a staple
of classical music since its premiere in 1936, because it’s a
wonderful introduction to children (and audiences of all ages)
of how an orchestra works. Comment

While "Pericles, Prince of Tyre"
has many Shakespearean elements, the play was clearly not penned
by the Bard alone. As for the definitive collection of Shakespeare’s
work, this romance was only added to his other plays in the second
edition of the Third Folio (along with six other plays, none
of which were written by Shakespeare). Comment

Brooklyn Family Theatre’s production of
Clark Gesner’s "You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown" opened
just as the Gallery Players’ production closed. But where the
Gallery Players used the original off-Broadway version, Brooklyn
Family Theatre has chosen to stage the Broadway revival. Comment

Pitchers and catchers reported this week,
and that event, following the remarkable sighting by a rodent
of his shadow on a cloudy Groundhog Day, is the second sign this
February that spring - and baseball - is right around the corner. Comment

Last February, BAMCinematek presented a
Luis Bunuel mini-series. This year (is it turning into an annual
event?) their Bunuel series includes a holdover from 2003 and
two other films from the final phase in the great Spanish director’s
career, who died in 1983 at age 83. Comment

Hearing "you look good for your age"
on my birthday didn’t give me much of a thrill. I remember hearing
those words without the "for your age" qualifier, and,
of course, I prefer the shortened version. Saying it about a
restaurant, however, is high praise. Comment

When Community Board 2 voted on the Downtown Brooklyn Plan last month
it failed to reach a consensus on a recommendation — effectively
taking a pass on its chance to forward its official analysis to the borough
president and City Planning Commission. Comment

Atlantic Yards: A Department of City Planning and Economic Development Corporation joint
public meeting to discuss the environmental impacts of the Downtown Brooklyn
Plan assuming the development of the Atlantic Yards arena plan, is scheduled
for Monday, Feb. 23, at 6 pm in Borough Hall. Comment

Atlantic Yards: Noted civil liberties attorney Norman Siegel will help several hundred
Prospect Heights residents fight eviction at the hands of the state to
make way for a colossal, $2.5 billion arena, office tower and apartment
complex planned for the intersection of Flatbush and Atlantic avenues. Comment

Atlantic Yards: Several hundred Brooklynites packed Borough Hall Wednesday night to tell
Borough President Marty Markowitz just what they think about a city plan
to convert Downtown Brooklyn into a mega-blocked, high-rise metropolis. Comment